The streaming of media from a server is now a common practice. There is, however, a need to control who may access the media and the circumstances under which the media is accessed. Typically, a user and/or his computing device may need to be authorized to access certain media. A user may need to be a valid account holder, and may need to have paid for the media, for example.
As a result, media owners and distributors now commonly implement digital rights management (DRM) in an effort to control access. DRM may include the use of cryptography for purposes of encrypting and decrypting media, and for authentication purposes. To implement this, key distribution and key management protocols may be put into place. The appropriate key(s) need to be provided securely to the authorized party, and to that party only. With the proper key(s), an authorized user may then decrypt and otherwise access a media stream.
While this may allow for a secure transaction, such processing may be time-consuming. Communications may have to take place between a client and a trusted agent of the media owner or distributor (e.g., a license server) in order to establish a user's right to access the media and to secure the media from unauthorized users. The time and effort required to implement such a secure transaction may diminish a user's experience. The user chooses to access certain media, and then typically wants to see the media with minimal delay. DRM processes, while necessary, may slow down media delivery.
In the drawings, the leftmost digit(s) of a reference number identifies the drawing in which the reference number first appears.